5 SECRETS FOR TAKING THE STRESS OUT OF CHOOSING OUTFITS FOR YOUR AUTUMN FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT

You’ve taken the plunge and booked an Autumn family photo shoot with a professional photographer. Only now you’re stressing about what you should all wear! Let’s face it, it’s hard enough to get everybody ready, dressed, and out of the house on time let alone in co-ordinating outfits without breakfast all down them or grass stains on their knees.

I have lots of family photo shoots coming up over the next few months, including my Autumn mini sessions, so I thought I’d share my 5 secrets for taking the stress out of choosing outfits for your family photo shoot.

FIVE SECRETS FOR TAKING THE STRESS OUT OF CHOOSING OUTFITS FOR YOUR AUTUMN FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT

1 – Start with one person

Rather than trying to co-ordinate everybody at the same time, start with just one member of your family. I would recommend choosing one of your children’s outfits first and make sure you’re totally happy with those items and the colours. Next you can start to select items for everybody else that sit well with this first outfit.

H&M Kids have some great affordable items available this season that would look great for any autumn family photo shoot.

GIRLS CLOTHING CHOICES

BOYS CLOTHING CHOICES

2 – Choose your colours according to your backdrop

During the Autumn season, colours are rich and vibrant. There are lots of greens, oranges and yellows in the beautiful Cambridge countryside. As Autumn heads towards Winter, we see more rich and earthy browns and chocolates appearing too. How you dress your family should compliment these colours rather than clash with them for your photographs to look good. Here are some examples of families that did a great job choosing their colours and tones.

3 – Dress for the weather

Autumn weather is notoriously unpredictable! Some days will be bright glorious warm sunshine and others blustery and chilly. It’s a good idea to make sure everybody has lots of layers. If your children are cold and miserable it will basically put an end to your photo shoot. Chunky textured knits look wonderful in Autumn photographs. Gilets, scarves, bobble hats and gloves also make adorable children’s portraits as well as keeping little ones warm.

4 – Are you comfortable?

Make sure your children are comfortable in what they’re wearing. If they are dressed too formally and can’t run around and have fun, it will show in their mood and therefore in your photos too!

Their clothes need to be appropriate for an outdoor autumn family photoshoot as well as comfortable! Your daughter may love her pink sparkly party shoes, but 5 minutes into a walk through the woods and the likelihood is they’ll be wet and muddy and looking grotty.

The same goes for the parents. You’ll feel far more relaxed and able to enjoy spending time playing your children during a photo shoot if you’re comfortable in your clothes.

5 – The Do’s and Don’ts of choosing your outfits

If all else fails, there are some basic do’s and don’ts to help you choose what to wear for your Autumn family photoshoot:

DO:

Layer up!

Add bobble hats and scarves for gorgeous kids portraits

Wear sensible shoes for kicking through the wet fallen leaves!

Bring a spare set of clothes for each of your children in case of wet or muddy accidents.

DON’T

Avoid children’s character clothing such as peppa pig jumpers or spider-man coats.

Leave the sports kit at home. I know its hard to persuade boys they can’t wear a football kit!

Try not to bring children’s comforters or dummies. They often get upset if you want to take them away for photos and won’t carry on without them.

Anything stuffed into pockets, such as keys, wallets or phones etc will be visible in your shots!

MORE INFORMATION

My Autumn Family Mini Photo Shoots are taking place in Cambridge on Saturday 5th October and in Newmarket on Saturday 12th October. These are 30-minute shoots that include 5 photos and are perfect for updating a wall in your home and gifting new photographs to family for Christmas. You can find out all the details and book your time slot here: